A “ROBOTIC-WIKI” - Clemson University

At its core, “architectural-robotics” leverages the idea of using hardware and
software in the design of architectural spaces to be capable of real-time situational
responses (Embodied Interaction). Architecture has mostly been unprepared for the
importance of hybrid digital-physical systems in the digital informational era . Moreover,
current research on architectural-robotics is still on the scale of components (walls,
ceilings, floors, and furniture) but not yet at the scale of buildings and large spaces.
Monumental-IT postulates that the dynamic, non-static cultural dimension of collective
memory is significant in shaping our public spaces.
This dissertation aims to establish principles for designing an interactive
monument for human differences in interpreting and understanding history and memory.
To demonstrate these concepts, I present a prototype of Monumental-IT, a “robotic-wiki”
monument for embodied interaction, describing its hardware, software, and its real-time
changing modes, with a full evaluation of the system. Monumental-IT has been designed,
prototyped and evaluated using an iterative-design process and human-centered design
methods.
1.1 Context of the research
The resistance to monuments as described by the architectural historian Kirk
Savage had deep roots in history: “Pericles famously claimed that the most distinguished
monument was ‘planted in the heart rather than graven on stone’” (Savage, 2009, p.1).
Americans are still skeptical about monumental practices (Gass, 1982; Savage, 2009;
Critical Art Ensemble, 1994). The challenges that contemporary architects are
confronting exceed the ideological problems of monumental practices. Current collective
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